São Paulo – Renowned worldwide for its natural landscapes, Brazil has two sites among the finalists for the seven wonders of nature: the Amazon, the world’s largest rainforest, and the Iguaçu Falls, a set of nearly 300 waterfalls. The Arab countries are also on the list of finalists in the contest, with three competitors: the Bu Tinah archipelago, in the United Arab Emirates, the Jeita Grotto, in Lebanon, and the Dead Sea, in the Middle East.
The contest is promoted by the New 7 Wonders Foundation, based in Switzerland, and has 28 finalists. Voting can be done on the Internet and the winners will be announced in 2011. Candidates totalled 261 landscapes. The contest selected 77 of them before coming down to the current finalists. From Brazil, also among the 77 locations selected were the Pantanal, Mount Roraima, and the city of Fernando de Noronha.
The Bu Tinah, in the United Arab Emirates, is a small archipelago with coral and marine algae formations, as well as shoals. It lies approximately 25 kilometres to the south of the Zirku Island and 35 north of Marawah Island, in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. The site is a nature reserve with private protection, where fishing and collection of turtle eggs are prohibited. The main island has a bay that houses a large mangrove, due to the stillness of waters.
The Jeita Grotto, in Lebanon, is located 20 kilometres away from the capital, Beirut, in the Nahr AL-Kalb Valley. It features two limestone caves and a 6-kilometre-long river, known as River Dog. Within the grotto, the river has sculpted large halls, similar to cathedrals, with stalactites and stalagmites of various shapes, sizes and colours. The grotto is over 9,000 metres long and houses one of the world’s largest stalactites, with over 8,000 metres. The maximum distance from the ceiling to the water, in the grotto, is 108 metres.
The Dead Sea, another Arab natural site that is competing as a natural wonder, bathes the territories of Palestine and Jordan, which are Arab countries, but also Israel. It is located 420 metres below sea level, and its shores are the lowest point on dry land on Earth. Tourists usually float on the Dead Sea, which is actually a lake, due to its large concentration of salt. It is 8.6 times saltier than the sea.
The Amazon, apart from Brazil, also represents Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guiana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, countries that the forest encompasses. In a similar manner, the Iguaçu Falls represent Argentina as well as Brazil.
Vote:
New 7 Wonders of Nature
Site: www.vote7.com/n7w
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
